


the rec league

by fan_nerd



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, college baseball au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-07-28 19:54:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7654531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fan_nerd/pseuds/fan_nerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance fulfills his dream of creating a recreational baseball team. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he ropes Shiro into it, who then invites the social disaster known as Keith to join them.</p><p>On the field, everything is great, except for the fact that Keith and Lance have <i>history</i>, and they live to drive each other crazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. of all the assholes in the world

**Author's Note:**

> i fell into voltron like a weak, pitiful fool. hmu on tumblr @[wbtrashking](http://www.wbtrashking.tumblr.com)
> 
> [insp 1](http://wbtrashking.tumblr.com/image/148296947338) | [insp 2](http://wbtrashking.tumblr.com/post/148260422948)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith scoffs. “Excuse you, I was invited to join practice."
> 
> “Shiro,” Lance puts on his most wounded expression. “How could you?”
> 
> Shiro is both amused and confused. “So, I’m guessing you two know each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright.....you know how sometimes things just creep up on you...well...

"Listen," Lance bangs his fist on the table and causes his two friends to flinch at his volume and shush him. "There's no rec team here."

Pidge pushes their glasses up the bridge of their nose and snorts. "Rec team for what?"

"Let me guess," Hunk cautiously dips a spoon into his partially spilled soup. "Baseball?"

" _Duh_ ," the dark-skinned man whines, kicking his ankles into Pidge's under the table. Pidge grumbles and lightly moves his huge ass feet to the side. "It's the great American pastime! How dare Garrison deprive its' stellar students of such a delight?"

"Dude, I thought you knew that when you applied." Hunk starts slurping noodles from his soup in earnest, while Lance's hands are laced behind his head. "Thought you didn't want to play anymore."

"What? Hell no!" The lithe man bangs a fist on the table and unfortunately spills broth all over Hunk's yellow t-shirt. "I joined this school because I figured I could _make_ a rec team."

"And it took you three years to finally get started on that goal?" Pidge jibes.

" _Listen_ ," Lance snarls, folding his arms across his chest, "You know as well as I do that prep classes for mechanical engineering are literally shit."

Hunk rolls his eyes. "Most people would think that the upper level classes, you know, the ones where we actually have to apply all the crazy stuff, are the harder ones."

"No way," Pidge and Lance both huff in disbelief.

Lance slides his chair back. "Anyways, the quest is on. I only have twelve hours this semester and I'm taking coding as a free class. There will _never_ be a better time. You two are my first members!"

"Whoa, way to ask for permission," Pidge comments absently, twiddling with their phone. "I mean, not that I care about joining, just would've been nice to have been asked."

"Consider this the time," Lance stands up and bows theatrically. "Hunk, my man?"

He belches and quirks an eyebrow. "Um, some of us actually have to study to pass?"

"That wasn't a no." With a grin, Lance grabs his bag off the back of the chair and salutes his friends. "See you two after your class! I'm gonna head to the gym and see what I have to do to start a rec team."

Hunk and Pidge share a tired look and the large man sighs. "Guess that means I'll be trying to do all my homework early."

Pidge pats his back sympathetically.

/ /

Lance storms through the halls of campus, tacking flyers everywhere that he's allowed (and even some places he isn't). When classes let out, he stands in the Quad and garners attention, asking if anyone would like to join his rec baseball team, all genders accepted and practices three nights a week after class.

He signs the back of the pamphlets for particularly gorgeous young ladies that pause for longer than ten seconds to listen to him.

After two weeks of fishing around, receiving a couple of bogus emails that mean nothing, and Lance literally lying face down on the floor in the apartment he shares with Hunk and Pidge, he arranges a meeting and decides that if this fails, he's giving up for the semester.

He somehow manages to wheedle Jessica, the student assistant at the library, into loaning them a room on the fourth floor that's large enough to hold twenty people, which is seventeen more than Pidge predicts will show up tonight.

Pidge plays games on their 3DS and Hunk sticks his tongue out, trying to figure out a particular calculation for modeling. Lance hurriedly scribbles _Recreation Baseball League Info_ in all capitals on the back of something he probably has no business writing on.

Amazingly enough, ten people show up to hear Lance's stupid rant about how great baseball is and what he wants to do for the next few weeks, and out of those ten, two of them are drop-dead gorgeous. Pidge says one of them looks familiar, but they can't remember why.

After Lance stumbles over his two gangly feet and inserts them promptly into his mouth at the meeting, six or seven people linger to exchange numbers and jot down the tentative schedule into notebooks, including the toned, olive-skinned man and the blue-eyed goddess with skin darker than sin. Up close, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk can see the perfect wings of the man's eyeliner and the coy smile on the woman's face, and all three of them feel a little flustered in their presence.

The older man says, "Looking forward to working with you, Lance," while clapping Lance on the shoulder.

The woman giggles as Lance colors and the two of them shake hands, her silvery hair bouncing behind her as she exits.

After the room clears out, Lance barely murmurs, "Guys, this was the best. Idea. _Ever_."

Pidge and Hunk aren't inclined to disagree.

/ /

The first week of practice weeds them down to six people—Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and their three older companions. Handsome Shiro takes charge of the ragtag group like he was born for leadership, and Lance, to his friends' surprise, is fairly eager to let him do so. Allura slides into practice with more talent and grace than Lance himself, who's really only good at pitching, but Shiro, who's had years of practice on competitive teams as a catcher, is determined to round him out.

The only other person who's stuck around is a fairly quiet but incredibly strong woman named Shay. Hunk has reputably muttered that he wants her to bench press him.

Shiro says he isn't disappointed in their numbers, because he knows a few people, and he thinks that they can probably make it to rec league matches in a couple months.

And so, around week seven of scrabbling around and Lance's pout when he has to pitch into a net instead of Shiro's glove, the almond-eyed blast-from-the-past walks up to the captain of their makeshift rec team and nods just slightly, scowl deeply set on his face.

"Dude," Hunk hisses in the middle of stretches, "you're staring. Focus."

Lance drops his larger friend unabashedly to storm to Shiro's side. "Nope, nuh-uh, get out, you're disrupting practice."

The dark-haired, mullet-sporting young man scoffs. "Excuse you, I was invited to _join_ practice. Shiro said you guys needed someone who could run and hit, and now that I know you're on the team, I know you'll _need_ me."

"Shiro," Lance breathes, wounded, "How could you?"

Shiro, for his part, looks partially amused and partially baffled. "So, I'm guessing you two know each other."

"Know each other— _ugh_!" Lance pouts, hazel eyes bugging out of their sockets.

Allura leaves Pidge to stretch alone to come over to the center of the field. "What's this all about, then?"

"Allura, meet Keith," Shiro says by way of introduction, gesturing towards the shorter man in a red cap. "Apparently, he and Lance have…history, but he's a good friend of mine." While he's at it, he has everyone stop stretching to come meet him formally, since they're all staring anyways. "He had a pretty excellent hit record in his last year of high school, and he's played with other rec teams in college." He claps a hand on Keith's shoulder and Keith smiles in return. "I figured he'd be just the thing to help us really get ready for the league."

Lance is still scowling at Keith, but Keith, at least for the moment, is ignoring him. Shiro gently guides them back to their practice sessions, encouraging Keith to look after batting while he works on signals for Lance's pitches.

The rest of practice is a bit tense, but relatively productive, so Shiro considers it a success.

/ /

"Keith!" Lance mutters at all hours of the night, much to Hunk and Pidge's dismay. "Keith. Oh my god, of all the assholes in the world."

"It's been years, Lance. Maybe he's better now." Hunk assures him quietly, taking a long sip of his red bull. "Listen, forget Keith right now—can you explain this? Dynamics is weird and confusing."

"I could help," Pidge offers from their desk, and Hunk shakes his head _no_ as vigorously as he can manage.

Lance sighs dramatically. "Pidge, you couldn't explain engineering stuff simply to your cat."

"You leave Radicans out of this."

"See, you gave your cat the scientific name for poison ivy," Lance says in way of an explanation, and Hunk nods in agreement. "Nerd."

"Lance, you're literally like, second in the class in tests, even though your practicals are garbage. Also, you have all the words to songs from _Flight of the Concords_ memorized. Who's the real nerd here?"

"Low blow, dude, low," the dark-skinned man mutters back. "Well, c'mon, Hunk, let's talk dynamics."

/ /

Keith shrugs on his favorite white and red jacket, and Shiro glances at him in his peripheral while he's putting on the small bit of eyeliner he always puts on.

"So," Shiro hums, quietly putting the liquid liner away, "You and Lance?"

"It's a long story." Keith looks out the window at the quiet city streets and huffs. "I'll tell you some other time."

The man with dyed bangs gives his friend a pressing look. "But you'll be able to play together, right?"

Keith looks almost offended at the question. "Yeah. Duh. We'll be fine."

Shiro's dark eyes flick over the younger man's guarded expression and he exhales slowly. "Okay."

Tension slowly eases out of Keith's shoulders at the word.

/ /

Shiro gathers everyone at dinner at a nerdy little bar just a fifteen minute walk from main campus, and, even better, only twenty or so from all of their apartments.

Because Pidge is a tiny little super genius who skipped grades and surged through college, they're the only one who can't drink, but they only shrug and smirk about getting to take loads of pictures of the tipsy crew.

After Shiro says his piece about teamwork and trust and so forth, he notably clasps Lance and Keith's shoulders, tells them in no uncertain terms to work out their issues, and commences the dinner. It's the last week before midterms, and right after those are over, rec league commences, no matter how ill prepared their hodgepodge team is for the challenge.

When Keith and Lance both glare up at him, Shiro quietly whispers, "Just so you know, this whole thing was Allura's idea," which momentarily placates them, because they have a common enemy.

Everyone else slides into easy chats, and Lance is a horrible braggart, as per usual, but he slips some pearls of truth into his words, which makes the servers eat out of his grubby little handsome hands.

About three beers in, Keith and Lance start heatedly debating about advanced physics theories until they're grabbing each other's collars, and their friends are hiding their faces in embarrassment. A manager comes by to ask them to leave, and the two of them storm out, bickering all the way.

The science babble turns into a drinking challenge about four steps away from the restaurant doors, and both of them text Shiro their whereabouts before racing to the street famous for pub crawling.

At two a.m., Lance drags a hand through Keith's hair in a misplaced attempt to grab the Asian-American man's collar. "This isn't over, okay. I can see you wobbling."

"I don't care. I don't even care." Keith chuckle snorts, barely managing to lean on Lance's shoulder and grab the back of his jacket. "I stopped caring a long time ago, Lance."

"Thought you forgot," Lance mumbles against Keith's cheek. "Need your mullet trimmed, man."

"Sort of? Not really. I'm really drunk right now." Keith's gray-blue eyes pierce Lance's hazel ones. " _Lisssten_ , if I kiss you right now, let's, uh, let's call it…a wash."

"That's a shit idea." Lance burps and his vision swims. "Why not."

So they kiss, at two fifteen a.m., and Lance throws up and Keith blacks out and somehow, one of them calls a cab and they get home to their separate apartments and manage not to die.

/ /

They get their uniforms two days before the intercollege rec league season begins for spring. Since it's recreational, they get to pick their team name, and the name is courtesy of Allura and her Uncle Coran— _Voltron._ The classic choice of white with blue pinstripes is thanks to Lance, but he says it doesn't matter what color their caps are, so he ordered a bunch of them in different colors.

Practice that night is better than it ever has been before, possibly because Keith doesn't manage to get one good hit off of Lance with Shiro's lead as the catcher, and possibly because everyone's just in a good mood since midterms are over.

Either way, it shows them that maybe they actually stand a chance of doing some damage in the rec league. Even Pidge and Hunk are warming to the whole _team_ and _sports_ thing, despite their many complaints, although the latter has plenty of motivation in the form of Shay, who blushes easily on her dark skin and is the apple of Hunk's eye, whether she knows it or not.

After practice, perhaps dizzy on all the pleasant feelings buzzing around, Keith comes up to Lance and punches him playfully in the shoulder. He punches too hard and Lance winces, glaring at him. "You weren't half bad today, second string."

"Yeah, well, you could've done better, mullet," Lance teases back, smirking. "Thought you came to help us hit and run."

"And what was _your_ batting average again, huh?"

"Oh, it is _so_ on—"

Pidge cuts in tiredly, "Would you two _please_ take this elsewhere? The rest of us want to go home and eat."

"This isn't over, Lance," Keith points to his own eyes with two fingers, and then jabs his digits in the tan man's direction.

"Oh, you better believe it!" Hunk drags Lance off by the elbow as his lanky friend howls and curses.

The next evening, Keith and Lance are at the field early, calculating each other's batting averages against a machine, chiding each other, and their teammates just accept it as a happy circumstance.

Allura is the one to lean on Shiro's shoulder with a lopsided grin and whisper, "It's kind of cute, watching them trying to prove themselves to each other."

"Shh," Shiro grins back inadvertently. "If you say that too loudly, they'll go back to yelling." The two of them giggle knowingly together before joining everyone and getting practice on with.


	2. teamwork makes the dreamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As soon as they step out of the batting center, Keith speaks up, his voice gruff. "So, are we gonna talk about this, or what?"
> 
> "I'll wager two thousand on _or what_ ," Lance replies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the week i wrote this kicked my ass!! enjoy! 8)

There's only one batting center within reasonable distance of Garrison Tech, and it is unfortunately two train stations away from main campus. Still, that doesn't stop Keith from going in to hit a hundred balls or so. He hasn't exactly set a limit for himself tonight, since it's the night before a match and he wants to be in the best shape he can. Around nine o'clock, he finds himself getting worn, and decides to call it a night so that his muscles can relax, and who does he find in the batting stall next to him on the field but Lance.

Lance stretches for ten minutes before he puts a token into the machine and lowers his knees into a proper stance. He takes a few practice swings at the air while the machine loads up, breaths even and steady even though his lips are turned up into a fairly superficial grin.

Keith just watches him play; his balls sail off into vastly different directions. It's not that Lance is a bad batter, per se – he just has a certain mental image in his mind blocking the path to exponential improvement.

He looks down at his battered old sports gloves and frowns. No use dwelling on the past.

After Lance has hit about thirty balls in complete oblivion, Keith calls out to him and the bronze-skinned man just barely manages to dodge getting hit by a ball going 90 mph.

"You need to lower your grip," Keith interjects, stifling a laugh when Lance squeaks in response.

"When did you sneak in here?" Lance grumbles and focuses on the machine, which is still spitting out balls.

"I was here first." He pulls a red cap off of his sweaty hair and scoffs. "You didn't pay any attention."

Keith can see his teammate rolling his eyes, despite his preoccupation with batting practice.

"Oh, _so_ sorry. Next time, I'll make sure I greet the air for anybody that could be nearby spying on me."

The rhythmic sound of the ball feeder and the metallic echo of Lance's hits fill the silence between them. For some time, Keith just watches him until the whirr of the machine slows to a stop.

After thirty minutes or so, Lance packs up, and Keith follows suit, the two of them walking to the train station together.

As soon as they step out of the batting center, Keith speaks up, his voice gruff. "So, are we gonna talk about this, or what?"

"I'll wager two thousand on _or what_." Lance smirks, pulling his bag further up his shoulder. "You must really just want to suck up to me if you're asking, huh? Looking for tips from the ace?"

When he hooks one arm over Keith's shoulder, he grimaces and shrugs Lance's arm off. "Advice for what? How to foul balls?"

"Yikes, harsh." Lance purses his lips. When a woman brushes shoulders with him, Lance winks at her and she giggles next to her friend. He and Keith quickly make it through the station gates and share a bench. Comfortable silence falls when Lance checks his phone and Keith stares off in space, trapped in his thoughts. Without looking up, Lance murmurs, "You ready for tomorrow?"

Keith stares at him for a moment before looking up at the train arrival monitor. "As ready as I'm gonna be."

"It's just a rec league, though."

Almond eyes narrow at Lance and he sighs. "There's no point in doing anything if you're not going to take it seriously."

Lance grins and turns the display of his phone off. "Yeah. Guess that's true."

Keith looks him in the eyes, studying his soft expression before he huffs and looks away.

/ / 

The first inning of their first match goes fairly well. As far as rec teams go, there's no one more dedicated than G. Tech's team. They're sloppy, and not well organized, but Pidge manages to fight for base in the second inning, and this gives them wind.

At this point, Shiro starts gathering everyone's heads and encourages everyone to get on base regardless of pitches received.

Lance, who is third hole, is actually the one to follow Pidge's run, and Keith, perhaps spurred on by his teammates' little victories, hits a home run off of a fairly weak fastball.

Getting three runs in one go seems to tear down their competitors' spirit. Shiro calls an aggressive lead for Lance's pitches. He's not exactly the best pitcher in the state, not by a long shot, but he's halfway decent when he puts his back into it, and even Keith could admit that.

He's been practicing.

As it turns out, the game ends 3-1 with Garrison's victory. They gather together and Lance's long, wiry arms wrap around the team as best they can. Keith grins wide and proud, slinging his arm around Lance's back.

"We did it," Shiro murmurs, ruffling Keith's hair affectionately after the game.

Keith looks a little baffled by the notion, even though he had a large hand in their success. "Yeah." His eyes drift to Lance, who is climbing on Hunk's back despite his protests. Pidge is taking pictures of them and snickering. "Guess we did."

/ /

That night brings the team together for drinks at Lance, Hunk, and Pidge's place, even though Hunk insists that he actually needs to _study_.

Pidge is a lightweight, partly because they don't drink regularly, and partly because they're underweight. Lance is a close second in terms of needing meat on his bones, but he has more experience, so he teases Pidge relentlessly for coloring so easily and claps when they belch deeply.

Once Pidge has enough of that, they retaliate with a fierce leer. "So, mister big, bad lady killer, what's all this beef with red over there?"

"Red?" Lance guffaws. His eyes trail over to Keith's red sweater, which looks horribly out of place on him. "Well, I guess it's true that it's his favorite color."

" _Ooh_ , so you know his favorite color, do you?"

Lance rolls his eyes. "Well, yeah. He wears red every day."

Pidge's speech is horribly slurred and Lance has trouble deciphering what they say, and eventually makes out, "Obviously…a story."

The Latino man kicks his feet up and pushes his hair out of his face. "It's a really long story, Pidge."

"I'm too drunk for your shit," Pidge hums, and Lance laughs in agreement.

On the other side of the room, Allura and Shiro discuss politics, while Keith pulls his legs up on the couch and nurses a cup of scotch. Hunk flips through channels and tries to pick his textbooks up, but Lance keeps pushing them away and pushing beer bottles into his hands.

The end result is Hunk becoming blazingly drunk incredibly fast while Pidge and Lance laugh at his attempts to explain himself to Shay, who laughs politely and offers to dance the buzz off with him.

Shiro reaches a lull in the conversation with Allura and turns to his friend with a gentle smile. "If you're bored here, you could always go over to the other couch."

Hunk has fallen on Shay by this time, who is running a hand through his hair and patting his back while Lance and Pidge attempt to bat her hands off and stick straws in Hunk's nose.

"It's okay," Keith murmurs with a soft smile, his eyes blatantly following Lance's gangly form across the room. "It's more fun watching."

"Hmm," Allura grins knowingly. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience, then."

Keith colors, glaring at her. "Oh, be quiet."

"Just an observation," Shiro notes, folding his arms over his broad chest.

At about two a.m., most of their party is crashing. Shay massages Hunk's shoulders while he retches in the bathroom, Allura and Shiro continue discussing the modern world, and Pidge is dead asleep, sprawled on the couch.

Keith and Lance head to the patio and enjoy the quiet sounds of the city. Keith's been out here for half an hour, and when Lance sits next to him, slotting his skinny legs through the banister peg spaces, Keith laughs.

"Finally got hot, huh?"

"I hate listening to Hunk hurl." Lance leans back on his palms, flushed from the heat and the drinking. "I mean, for one reason or another, I have to listen to that once a month, but it doesn't make it any better."

Keith hums. He shifts so that he can put his chin on one knee and turn to Lance. "Hey. We made a pretty good team today."

Lance blinks at him in disbelief before chuckling, eyes directed at the sky. "Yeah. Guess we did." After a moment, he smirks and turns to his companion. "Totally thanks to me, though."

He snorts. "Yeah right." Keith doesn't say anything, just lets the breeze blow through his hair. Lance doesn't say anything either, but it's because he's starting to doze off.

Ten minutes later, Keith grumbles and elbows him awake. "C'mon, asshole. Your bed's just a few feet away."

"Not ready to sleep yet."

"Get up, Lance," Keith mutters. Lance grabs his hand with watery eyes.

"Just give me five more minutes," Lance pleads, hand trembling. Keith bites his lip, fingers slipping between darker fingers so easily.

Keith's voice fails him for ten, so he just stands there and leans against the banister to keep from keeling over.

/ / 

The next few weeks at practice, Shiro drills them into the ground. His voice is patient and level and the team snaps to attention as soon as he so much as lifts a finger. Most of them try to grab lunch together between classes, if they can manage it.

Allura officially designates their numbers, defensive positions, offensive positions, and batting orders:

Lance – 1 / Pitcher / Left Field / Third

Shiro – 2 / Catcher / Third Base / Fifth

Shay – 3 / First Base / Sixth

Keith – 4 / Cleanup / Right Field / Fourth

Pidge – 5 / Shortstop / Second

Hunk – 6 / Second Base / First

Allura – 7 / Center Field / Seventh

The rest of the team consists of rotating members. More accurately, the rest of the team is made up of whomever they can convince to join them for practice or games.

Between Allura and Shiro, the team is really coming together.

Pidge is the one to suggest a tactic to deal with their one remaining flaw.

"We need to have a meeting," Pidge says while quietly munching on a pack of oreos. They say this to Allura and Shiro at lunch one afternoon. Everyone else has class. " _Without_ Keith and Lance."

Shiro and Allura quirk their perfectly-groomed brows. The female of the pair pushes silvery hair behind her ears and leans over the table. "That hardly seems productive, Pidge. After all, the two of them are the powerhouses of the team." Under her breath, she continues, "They are disgustingly pigheaded, though."

"That's why." Pidge swallows, waving a fork in their faces. "Everyone _knows_ they can play baseball. It's not a meeting about how well we're going to dominate the rec leagues with sheer skill—it's a meeting to figure out how the fuck we get rid of this unreal awkwardness between them and improve our team dynamics _off_ the field."

Shiro laughs and reaches over to pat Pidge's shoulder. "Wow. Never thought I'd be hearing that from you."

Pidge grumbles and colors. "You don't have to be an ass about it."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just think it's cool. You don't usually care about other people so much."

"What can I say," they scoff, "the idiots grew on me."

Shiro's bleached bangs fall in his eyes, which crinkle when he laughs. "I'm glad."

"Well, since we're already here, why don't we go ahead and get started?" Allura waves a hand and smiles. "What, exactly, did you have in mind to deal with this particular…issue?"

Pidge smirks evilly, lacing their hands together and letting their glasses fall down so that they're looking at Allura and Shiro over the rims.

/ /

Shiro goes over strategies for practice, and manages to keep a straight face as both Lance and Keith look at him in horror.

"So, for the sake of the team, we'll be playing twenty questions together. All questions are required to be answered truthfully. Nothing disgusting may be asked about, and if it is deemed intrusive by Allura, the question will be dismissed. Understood?"

"Um, hell no!" Lance is the one to speak up first. "We are way too old for this shit. I have better things to do."

"Alright then," Shiro replies smoothly, soft smile on his face. "You won't be playing in our next match, then."

"Anarchy! I _made_ this team."

"Well, my older brother plays with a local rec team," Pidge chimes in airily. "I'm sure I could convince him to come pitch here, especially since he's an alumnus."

"Ugh," Lance groans, planting his face in his hands. Keith is likewise devastated, hiding his eyes behind his arm. "Alright. Fine, okay! I already know why you losers are doing this. Let's just get this over with."

"I hate to agree with him, but I have no choice." Keith sternly says, standing up. "Now that that's decided, could we actually practice?"

"Absolutely!" Allura claps her hands together and ushers them to the changing rooms. "Let us begin!"

"It starts Friday at 8pm," Shiro finishes. " _Don't_ be late."

Keith and Lance share a look before sighing collectively. They drag their feet to get changed, and Hunk joins them with a look of concern, hoping that this doesn't have the totally opposite reaction than is intended.

After all, he was around for the 'story' the first time around.

He's not sure he wants to see either of them recall the events and risk reliving it.

/ /

Keith and Lance show up like clockwork to Shiro's place, both of them with hefty cases of beer in their hands.

The Asian man holds up a gloved hand and grimaces. "Don't say anything."

"I _didn't_ ," Lance mutters, lifting a hand to knock on the door.

"Your thoughts are pretty damn loud."

"Yeah, well, yours aren't much quieter, mullet."

Keith hisses, "You leave my hair out of this," just moments before Shiro pulls the door open with a fond smile.

"Come on in," he says, ushering the two of them in, entirely unfazed by their somber bickering.

The living room has all the rec team regulars inside. Shay and Hunk are flirting cozily on one corner of the couch, while Pidge and someone that looks just like Pidge are playing pokémon together. Allura is watching them compete over Pidge's shoulder and cheering.

Lance frowns and points a finger at them. "I thought this was a team only thing."

"My brother is Shiro's roommate," Pidge comments before clicking their tongue and mashing buttons on a 3DS.

"Shouldn't you have known him from before, then?"

Pidge rolls their eyes. "I'd only met him one time before that. I'm pretty much the poster child for introversion, Lance."

"Don't worry," He says quietly, his tongue peeking out of his lips in concentration. "We should be done in a few, and then I'll get out of your hair." Everyone turns to watch the siblings jibe at each other.

"Matt, if you think thirty seconds is a few minutes, you need to check your watch."

"Excuse you, who exactly has three pokémon left?"

" _Me_! I'm kicking your ass."

"Only for now."

Pidge makes a celebratory noise approximately thirty seconds later, as promised, when they decimate Matt. Matt introduces himself to everyone formally before dashing out of the condo at 7:58pm.

Once he's gone, the gang grabs their beers of preference and settles down to talk.

They decide to do questions in a round robin style, five questions at a time. Shiro and Allura wrote the questions up together, so they are reasonably fair and easy to answer—at least at first. Over the course of the night, many things get revealed, but nothing gets contested.

Shay tells them about her brother, who she loves dearly but who drives her crazy with his overprotectiveness. About how unwomanly she feels, and how much she likes tattoos and dogs and wants to be in a relationship, but isn't sure how to go about it.

Hunk talks about his dream of designing kitchen gadgets and working in a restaurant, as well as his two dogs that at least make sure that he goes for a walk after dinner, whether he likes it or not.

Pidge talks about how shitty school was until they figured out they were aromantic and agendered. They talk about how technology was always a salvation, and why engineering was the only choice for them, really, but lately life has been improving since they've been hanging with people who like them regardless. (They all color a little at that, embarrassed and flattered that Pidge is so fond of them, despite having admitted that understanding people is hard for them.)

Shiro talks about how his parents always ran him a little ragged, since he came from a Polynesian household. After he got a bad cut on his face at the tail end of high school and had to get crazy stitches around it, they started to actually listen to what he said, and life improved from there. It took him a long time to get around to going to college for a lot of reasons, the first of which being in the air force and actually being involved in a war for some time. He talks about the major reconstructive surgery he had to have on his right arm and how he thought he'd never be able to move it, and everyone somberly acknowledges his strength yet again.

Allura tells them about her father, who died just two short years ago, but had worked as a diplomat for most of her life. She'd seen many countries and met many people, and doing so had inspired her to follow in his footsteps. She's smart as a whip and knows it, but moving so often had made it difficult for her to make friends before college. She's still struggling with the loss and other problems she has, mentally, but she's mostly positive about everything.

And then, finally, all eyes fall on the two that have been mostly on the sidelines for the night. They comment on everyone's stories with kind words on Lance's part and with quiet respect on Keith's. The first few passes get the easy stuff out of the way—Lance gushes about his family and his homesickness for minutes on end, freezing up when someone says he looks like he's going to cry. Keith sternly talks about his experiences (or lack thereof) with his foster families, with his wayward times in and out of trouble in school, and he replies tersely to all questions answered, very obviously not in the mood to talk about his problems.

Shiro begins, "Well, we've saved the best for last, and it's a joint question."

"Shall we ask," Allura says, opening her third beer of the night, "Or shall you two start?"

Lance and Keith share a look before Keith tosses up his hands.

The dark skinned man sighs. "I guess I'll start then."


	3. adolescence is overrated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance folds his arms over his chest. "So you forgot about winning against your rival in a revenge game too?"
> 
> Keith scowls. "And who, exactly, is that supposed to be?"
> 
> "Me, you idiot!" Lance shouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i luv 2 die ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Keith starts at this school in junior year. He has little patience for those around him, and since he's begun high school, he's been suspended more often than he's been in class.

He's going to attempt not to do the same here, but he has a problem where he says exactly what's on his mind without a filter. The only reason he wants to do well in school, either academically or behaviorally, is because he wants to play baseball.

It's not like basketball or tennis, both sports that can be played publicly, with anyone near the courts willing to play. Most people who can gather a baseball team have _friends_ , something Keith hasn't been able to properly make since he was ten years old. This means that he has to play in school if he doesn't want to pay for it, and his part time job at a gas station isn't nearly enough to pay to play baseball at a sports center.

Because his social skills are shit, and his facial recognition is even shittier, he starts off on the wrong foot on the very first day of baseball practice at his new school.

There is a dark-skinned boy named Lance on the second string who glares at him all throughout his brief introduction, and Keith is sort of feeling like he missed something.

/ /

Lance stomps up to him after about two weeks, where Keith is placed on the first string with no questions asked, outperforming pretty much everyone else on the team. "Hey."

"Hello." Keith doesn't even turn to glance at him. He just adjusts his fingerless gloves and swings the bat between his legs. When he notices that Lance is just staring at him, and standing within arms length, he heaves a sigh and turns to him slowly with a scowl. "What?"

"What do you mean, _what_?" Lance's nostrils flare up, and Keith is losing his patience incredibly quickly. "Did it really suck so bad?"

"Did what suck?"

"Oh my god," Lance exclaims tiredly, tossing his hands up and hissing. "When our team beat yours by a _landslide_. I came out to pitch, your coach benched you for some reason, and then they got destroyed."

Keith eyes him suspiciously, fairly convinced that his new teammate is just trying to get a rise out of him. "Honestly, I don't really remember that well. I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Lance folds his arms over his chest. "So you forgot about winning against your rival in a revenge game too?"

Keith scowls. "And who, exactly, is that supposed to be?"

"Me, you idiot!" Lance shouts.

"Well, if anything you're saying is true," Keith jibes lowly, swinging the bat near the ground again before lifting it into position, "Then you better get out of second string and show me, whoever you think are."

"My name is _Lance_!"

Thus, Keith and Lance formally meet at age sixteen.

/ /

Baseball practice is entertaining to say the least, or so Keith presumes, mostly because his stupid vicious cycle of getting suspended continues. His grades aren't great because he doesn't care, attending class is more trouble than it's worth, and he's just the kind of person people want to pick fights with.

Whenever he does manage to show up, Lance gives him the stink-eye. After practice, he hurries off in the opposite direction with his best friend, Hunk, and either sticks his tongue out at Keith or flips him the bird.

At some point, Keith winds up finding it more amusing than he does annoying, and that revelation probably startles him more than anything else.

After months of routine and learning that as shit a pitcher as he could be, Lance wasn't lying about being a valuable asset to the team. He seems to bring laughter to their faces and unify them in a way that is not exactly reminiscent of a captain, but he's… _something_.

Keith thinks he'd actually like to play in a game with Lance. His attendance isn't always good enough for that, but the stars align exactly once before the winter holidays.

Lance is put on the bench, is called in at the fifth inning, and Keith is in the outfield with him. Lance leaps unnaturally high with his gangly, sprawling limbs, and Keith is so struck by his dirt-smeared face that he stops.

It is the first time he realizes that he'd like to trade more than two words with his teammate, because he finds that Lance is amazing, for all of his faults.

/ /

Keith and Lance throw jibes and toss light-hearted insults. They gradually creep closer, laugh together more, and generally just become friends.

Since Keith always eats lunch by himself, Lance spots him easily, and invites him to come out with him and Hunk. They never talk about anything particularly important, but they fall into an easy friendship.

The friendship creeps into foreign territory in second semester, getting increasingly touchy for Keith, who's unused to affection in all forms, and a little too real for Lance, who is a bit too frivolous even in his own mind.

That last barrier in their friendship, which has only been acknowledged for all of one month by the time February rolls around, is torn down at last when Lance invites Keith to his house, open invitation to spend the night if he likes. Hunk can't come because he has business to attend to at home, which means it's just Lance, Keith, and all six of his siblings.

Keith is paralyzed with fear at the idea, but Lance claps a hand on his shoulder and tells him that his mom makes the best _arepas_ he'll ever have in his life, Keith just sort of nods, mouth dry, unable to deny Lance anything when he smiles like that.

The two of them joke with the kids about cartoons, play games, wrestle, and tell dirty jokes until it's far too late at night to be awake. Lance trips over Keith's leg and giggles as he lies next to him.

Lance affectionately punches Keith in the arm and Keith grins widely.

Lowly, so lowly that he's almost talking to himself, Keith whispers, "It's weird that I kind of want to kiss you right now, isn't it." He's sure Lance will laugh at him, since Lance likes to flirt with any female close enough to hear his voice.

Lance pecks him softly on the forehead, smiling more earnestly than Keith thinks he's ever seen him smile. "Well yeah, sure, a little, but I like being liked. Doesn't sound too bad."

So, they kiss on Lance's floor, mostly innocent and in awe of each other, and everything changes.

/ / 

Hunk groans and covers his eyes when he sees them. "I knew this would happen. I knew it!"

Keith colors and Lance smirks. "What can I say? I'm just a real likeable dude. Irresistible, some might say."

"No, Lance," both Keith and Hunk deadpan, but Lance remains as cocky and annoying as he ever was.

/ /

The weeks of the year fly by, and Keith manages to remain on his best behavior for the remainder of the school year. Hell, he might even manage to go to the same high school two years in a row, which is an achievement in and of itself.

Lance and Keith fall into an easy routine of bathroom kisses and game night dates and constant competition with each other on the baseball field. Everything goes incredibly smoothly until the very end of May, when both of them think that things couldn't be any better.

Keith thinks it's about time they talk about the future.

Either way, all of their fun little plans get interrupted by a conversation Keith hears Lance having with Hunk near the locker rooms, right before the first big game of the summer.

"…Keith is a dude. I know this. Neither one of us exactly shy about that fact."

"TMI, man," Hunk fake retches.

"Not the point," Lance interjects, going back to his topic. "I'm just saying…I don't know. I guess everything's just so strange. I'm not gay, Hunk. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know about anything."

"So what, all of this is…what, to you?"

"It's _something_ ," Lance fishes for words, and Keith feels his heart plummeting. He's finding it very hard to keep listening and understand the words being said. "Of course I care about Keith! I wouldn't be with him if I didn't care. I guess I'm just torn. At the end of the day, it's just a question of whether I'm okay with him seeing with my pants down, of one of us doing more, and I don't…I don't know yet, Hunk. Am I okay with being gay? Or bi? I've never thought about it before. It's just sort of weird."

Hunk is a moment from offering his wisdom, but the coach calls for Lance and he tells Hunk to put the conversation on pause.

Keith manages not to be sick, but just barely, and his head isn't in the game one bit.

/ /

After the game, Lance pulls Keith aside and questions him, arms folded across his chest. "That was the worst game you've ever played in your life."

"I don't care." Keith brushes past him brusquely and Lance is stunned.

"What's _with_ you, Keith?" Lance grabs Keith's arm, and Keith immediately swirls on his heel and snarls.

"Don't you _dare_ fucking touch me!" Other players are gathering and Lance tries to hush him, but Keith's fury is unleashed. "Don't you tell me what to do. I heard you talking to Hunk earlier." As if summoned by his name, Hunk follows the team in from the bleachers and is set to wave to them, but everyone is halted by the fight in the hall. "Why didn't you cut this off before you let it get this far? Why did let me believe this would be more?"

Lance's face is full of terror and he looks to be on the verge of tears. "I _do_ want it to be more, I'm just kind of confused, Keith. I've spent my whole life thinking that being gay just was not something to talk about. I'm just not sure about this whole gay or bisexual thing or whatever! Work with me here!"

"Well listen here, you homophobic piece of shit," Keith's voice is strained, and he feels close to crying himself. He might be already. He _is_  an angry crier. "You think gays are weird? You don't want them to touch you? Then _don't get a boyfriend_!"

"I never fucking said that!" Lance's nose is immediately met with Keith's fist, and Hunk elbows through their teammates to break them apart, even as Keith is kicking at Lance. "I never said that, you piece of shit, why won't you just listen to me?"

"Fuck you, Lance! _Fuck you!_ " The coach storms in and writes Keith a formal suspension from the team, from the school, and issues his foster family a strong suggestion to take him _elsewhere_ for the following school term.

/ /

They meet one more time, when Lance has a purpling bruise across the bridge of his broken nose and Keith is shaking from equal parts regret and fury.

The air in the diner is incredibly terse, and Lance quietly bows his head. "I'm sorry." Keith says nothing, so he continues. "Listen, I…really do care about you, Keith. Maybe I'm too stupid right now. Maybe I'm just too young. I just know we're not right for each other right now."

Keith can feel the tears welling up, and he quietly whispers, "I know. It was my fault too."

"I do feel really shitty about it." Lance is crying now too, and Keith wishes more than anything he had the strength to separate his emotions so he could go over there and comfort him.

Unfortunately, he doesn't. "It was both our faults. We didn't know any better."

They part on fairly bitter terms, but Lance whispers one last thing to him with a wobbly smile.

"Don't stop playing baseball, alright? You might be a piece of shit, but you're at least halfway decent at that."

"Yeah," Keith replies softly, "You do the same."

Lance sniffles and waves goodbye. "Mullet."

"Second string," Keith jibes back, feeling disastrously weak just from seeing Lance cry.

They don't so much as hear from each other for years.

/ /

Hunk is there to witness the tragic downfall of his friend. Lance is _miserable_ post-Keith.

Lance researches sexuality. He researches mental illness. He cries in his mother's arms and mopes around his brothers and sisters for almost a full year before he makes a rebound. It takes two years until he really understands himself, until he can smile like he used to, until he can joke and flirt harmlessly.

His flirting starts to hit both sides of the spectrum, but as soon as he reaches the dating phase—the cute names and the kissing and the petting—he backs off, politely declining young women and men alike. Nobody is a good fit. Nobody gives him a challenge.

He throws more of himself into baseball and schoolwork than ever before. He's still a lazy piece of shit at his core, but his idle hours lead to introspection that sometimes, he'd just rather avoid. Lance continues to portray himself as this goofy, hapless shape of a man into the formative years of adulthood.

Just when all the memories of what had been the best time of his life so far had begun to dissipate, he sees him again, and he prides himself on how normal his voice sounds.

They're different now.

They're older, and wiser, and stranger, and most importantly, _they're playing baseball together again_ for real. No more second-string Lance and suspension addled semi-regular Keith.

This time, they have a chance to be a _team_.

Dare either of them think it, they have a chance to start over.


	4. low expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The problem is, Lance isn't sure if he should trust himself with this particular issue, because the last time he did, that ended so well.
> 
> Ironically enough, the person he wants to comfort him is probably the last person he should be talking to right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> insomnia stinks, kids. thanks to everyone who stops by and the kind few that have left me some super sweet comments. fyi i should prob change the rating to e for next chapter but idk.
> 
> enjoy!!

The story really does take the both of them more than an hour to tell, making it as long as a story as they'd promised.

When Lance is talking, he sometimes skims over the other little stories in the middle, like his and Hunk's conversations about relationships and life in the middle of all the other chaos. When Keith is talking, he doesn't mention how Lance had constantly fussed over his bruises and his mangled hair and his shitty home situation.

Everyone listens with rapt attention, not even daring to interrupt the two for fear that this will force the story to come to an abrupt close. Afterwards, Shiro deeply inhales and then claps his hands together.

"I can tell it was hard for you guys to tell us," Shiro murmurs, smiling as honestly as he can manage, "but thank you. I think that helps all of us understand you a lot better. And be honest—didn't it help you two as well?"

Lance and Keith share a look and shrug, but although they're not yet ready to admit it, it had felt good to discuss everything.

"Well, I guess I gotta give my fair share of props to Hunk, too, while we're all still being sappy," Lance chimes, voice going three pitches higher than it had at any point during his recollection of high school. "He definitely helped me pull out of my funk and make sense of it all."

"Yeah, well, the same goes for Shiro on my end." Keith tries his best not to smile, but it's hard not to be infected by Lance's good mood. "He helped kick my sorry ass into gear when I was at my lowest."

"Now you have all of us too," Allura widely gestures to the room full of new friends, everyone in various states of drunkenness, sleepiness, and tearfulness. The last status in particular only has one member—that is to say, Hunk, whose tears and nausea come easily. "We're all here to talk if you ever need to."

Lance looks around and grins again before downing a drink. "Thanks, guys."

//

Hours later, on the walk back home, Lance helps support Hunk. The walk is mostly quiet until they get back to the building, and Hunk smiles fondly, reaching up high to knock his large fist into Lance's bony shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, man."

Lance scoffs. "Yeah, well, you should be."

Hunk's eyes soften as he pads onto the elevator. "I know it was rough."

Lance puts his head in his hands and takes in a shuddering breath. "God, yes."

When they get into the apartment, Lance throws his arms around Hunk and just breathes, appreciating his friend's wobbly hold. "I've got you, dude."

"Yeah, says the guy ready to pass out on his feet," Lance chides, scuffling Hunk over to the couch before getting him a glass of water. "Pidge was too drunk to even walk back, so I guess you're faring a _little_ better, but it's not by much."

Hunk takes a long sip of his water before sighing, already feeling a pounding headache come on. "So, be honest. How was it?"

"How was what?"

"Don't be stubborn," Hunk toys with the glass for a moment, eyes closed in exhaustion. "I meant talking to Keith about everything that happened back then."

Lance stares off into the distance for a time. "Easier than I thought it would be."

"And?"

He sighs, kicking his feet up on the table. " _And,_ I'm not exactly over him, which is a surprise to no one. C'mon, Hunk, you don't have to be a jerk about it."

"You and Keith have been making googly eyes at each other since his first day of practice. I'm just saying that I don't want any repeats."

"There won't be." Hunk opens his dark eyes to give Lance a _look_ and his best friend tosses up his hands. "I don't think. I don't know. It's nothing serious right now."

"But?" Hunk drawls lazily.

"It's not nothing," Lance offers jerkily, almost frightened to admit that. "I just don't know. Right now, it's just…really nice to see him again."

"Okay." The big man takes a large gulp of water, finishing off the glass before standing up on unsteady feet and padding over to his bedroom. "I trust you, Lance."

The problem is that Lance isn't sure if he should trust himself with this particular issue, because the last time he did, that ended so well.

Lance sinks further on the couch, eyes closed.

Ironically enough, the person he wants to comfort him is probably the last person he should be talking to right now.

//

Shiro manages to get Pidge set up on the couch, kisses Allura's temple to see her off as she goes home with Shay, and then ushers his friend to the yard of the condo.

Keith gazes up at the stars in silence until the older man joins him on the grass. "I didn't really mean for it to be a secret."

"I know." Shiro leans back on his hands in much the same way Lance had that last party.

The image of his ex holding onto his hand so desperately at their last party weeks ago burns behind his eyes so strongly that he has to drop his head between his knees to groan. "You know how I get."

"You get trapped in your own thoughts, impulsive, and irrationally angry quickly," Keith grunts his agreement, "but you still shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You were what, seventeen?"

"I'm kind of an asshole, Shiro. Always have been," Keith murmurs, sighing tiredly, voice muffled by his pants. "You know, just in case you hadn't noticed."

"You're not as bad as you think you are. Look at you," Shiro grins when Keith minutely pulls his head up to flick his dark eyes to the side. "You're still guilty about what you did. I think that proves you're not just being a dick about it."

After a long pause, Keith grumbles, "I felt like garbage about it as soon as it happened. You should've seen Lance." His voice breaks, and for a time, Shiro thinks that Keith might be on the verge of crying. The realization is so startling to him that he stays silent. "He probably still hates me for that."

"Well, I'm sure nobody's happy about their boyfriend breaking their nose." Keith groans again and Shiro laughs lightly. "You guys don't seem to get along too poorly these days, though. Honestly, before tonight, I thought you guys had just fought over snacks, or fought about someone you wanted to date in the past. I didn't think it would be so…deep."

"Shit was sincerely fucked between us back then," Keith replies softly, finally uncurling to fully lie on the grass, "but it was sort of good that we broke up. I don't know about Lance, but it really gave me time to grow the fuck up and focus on actually improving myself." His dark eyes linger on the flickering lights of the neighborhood. "I never wanted to hurt anyone like that again. I thought to myself, if I ever saw Lance again, all I wanted was for him to smile like he did when we first became friends." His fingerless gloves are covered in dirt when he clenches fists at his side. "I wanted to be the kind of person who wouldn't throw a fist first and ask questions later."

"And now?" Shiro tries to stay quiet as Keith wipes hot tears off of his face with the back of his sleeve.

"I don't know. I know I still have anger issues. I know I've gotten a lot better, but I just wish I didn't care, like usual," Keith sniffs and buries his head between his knees again. Shiro places a gentle hand on his back and rubs circles around his shoulders. "I wish Lance wouldn't make everything so _easy_."

"You're both different now," Shiro murmurs calmly. "There's nothing wrong with asking to start over."

"God, don't say that shit to me," Keith mumbles back, sobs making his frame shake. "You'll get my hopes up."

Shiro doesn't know what to say in return to that, so he just comforts Keith and lets his inner peace radiate to his friend.

//

On Monday everyone looks damn exhausted. Keith and Lance put on good faces around each other, but for the most part they're just quiet.

Rarely enough, Pidge has errands to run and Hunk has a meeting with his professor, so it leaves the two of them eating lunch with Allura and Shay. The chatter is mindless and easy and the two women pat both of them back about thirty minutes in because they have to head off to class.

Afterwards, they just eat. Lance opens his mouth in an awkward smile a few times, but never manages to speak, and Keith freezes every time they lock eyes.

Both of them just decide to save their energy for practice, where they'll have something else to focus on.

//

Everyone starts off a little tense at practice that night, but Shiro smartly places Keith and Lance together, both in order to improve their work as a unit on the rec team and to help the duo dispel the awkwardness that's built between them since the party.

Keith and Lance stretch, exchanging jibes and falling into an easy routine. Lance smiles when Keith trips, and, easily as breathing, he leans over and helps the red-loving dork fix the laces of his cleats.

When the bronze-skinned man looks up, grinning guilelessly, Keith colors, turns his nose up, and wills his heart to slow down.

Lance's pitches improve by leaps and bounds every practice, and that Friday is a particularly difficult matchup with Z-University. The two of them razz the others into taking action and Pidge finally yells that nobody's beating them tonight, so Shiro has everybody race.

Shiro, unsurprisingly, comes first, very closely followed by Keith and Lance, who bickers with his teammate about who came first until they're both laughing recklessly.

Hunk just shakes his head at their antics with a knowing smile.

//

By the time Friday rolls around, the whole team is pumped up. Keith and Lance fervently elbow each other and tell stupid jokes in Shiro's car, huddled over Lance's phone laughing about pictures of his siblings and his dog.

Shay pulls the team together in the huddle that night, and proves to be a truly excellent hitter during the third inning, where she hits a double off of Zarkon U's pitcher. The guy curses at them under his breath for the rest of the game.

Pidge says the kind of people who poke fun at anyone that doesn't look the part of a traditional baseball player needs to be fully owned, and so they take the game by storm in the seventh after they hit a triple off of the same hothead.

Keith brings them home to finish the game 7-5, because Lance shuts them out at the bottom of the eighth and ninth, and everyone celebrates, tossing their hats off in unison.

By accident, Lance falls into the rest of the team, pulling Keith down with him, and they rejoice, laughing on the ground. Everyone else joins them, laughing hysterically.

//

"Shay is the real MVP!" Lance tosses up his glass in a cheer and everyone else follows suit. She blushes beautifully and Hunk hugs her shoulder with great fervor. The table is a mess with appetizers and strewn glasses. Since they're out, Pidge can't drink with them, but they take entertainment in Lance's antics.

About an hour into the party, he's laughed himself hoarse and he just barely tugs at Keith's shoulder with a flush coloring his nose. Pidge watches them go, and when Shiro quirks an eyebrow, they just shrug.

Allura notices the two missing members of their party and grins. "Wonder what they could be up to?"

Hunk rolls his eyes. "Trust me—you don't wanna know."

//

Lance holds Keith's hand in silence as they amble away from the restaurant.

"We can't keep doing this," Keith mumbles lowly, heat radiating through his gloves and into Lance's palms. "Not without a plan."

"Oh my god, who are you and what have you done with Keith?" Lance comments snidely. Keith immediately glares at him. "I'm just kidding, dude. I know."

They keep walking down the street at a brisk pace. After a few minutes of enjoying the silence, Keith says, "Where is this going?"

"Anywhere, honestly." Lance replies softly, coming to a stop underneath a streetlamp. "I just…I forgot how much I really missed you."

"You can't _do_ this shit to me, Lance, damn it." Keith flushes up to his ears, quickly averting his gaze from Lance's stupid grin. "You're supposed to hold a grudge and be bitter about everything because I'm an asshole."

Lance shrugs. "You've always been emotionally constipated. Besides, you said stuff I needed to hear, too." He squeezes their hands together. "Not to say that I'm cool with you breaking my nose. That's on the top of the list of uncool things that happened to me in my life."

"See, that's what I'm talking about."

"I like you anyways, Keith," Lance says staunchly, holding his gaze and trying hard not to laugh when Keith's eyes bug out. "I know maybe I shouldn't be so forgiving. Maybe I should be angrier at the way things turned out. Maybe I shouldn't have a crush on you again. Maybe I shouldn't want this to be something." Keith's face falls at all that, but he carefully controls his emotions so that he doesn't lash back. He's really listening this time. "But I _do_ want this to be something, Keith. I always knew you had problems, and I liked you despite that back then, and I definitely like you anyways now."

"This is probably a horrible idea," Keith says, holding Lance's gaze and scowling. "I'm no good for you."

"You don't know that," Lance stubbornly replies.

Keith sighs. "I'm telling you I told you so when you ruin the team dynamics and break up with me."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you will," Lance rolls his eyes and tentatively pulls Keith into a hug and tucks Keith's head underneath his chin. "So, can we kiss now and stop dancing around the issue, or what?"

"Kissing you a few months ago didn't change things," Keith pouts.

"What's that?" Lance puts on his best ignorant expression. "No idea what you're talking about. This kiss that's about to happen is definitely the first in…what was it? Four years? Five?"

Keith rolls his eyes. "Just shut up and kiss me, Lance."

Lance gingerly wraps his hands on Keith's waist and waits until the shorter man tips his head up to breathe into his mouth.

Keith's arms come up under Lance's to wrap around his back and he flicks his tongue into Lance's mouth, satisfied to hear the taller man's hum against his lips.

When they pull away, Keith is trying to hold a scowl on his face and failing. Lance guffaws. "You are so _cute_ , holy fuck!"

"Shut up!" Keith flushes lobster red and takes Lance's hand in his. "Just because I like you doesn't make you better at baseball than me—just remember that, scrub!"

"This scrub is well on his way to dating you." Keith kicks at Lance's pompous ass and laughs when the other man winces.

They walk to the train station hand in hand.


	5. an end to a beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't know what to wear on a _potentially getting laid_ date," Keith blurts out.
> 
> Shiro laughs. "Do you want to go to the mall or something?"
> 
> Keith groans. "I hate people."
> 
> "So, that's a no?"
> 
> "Not…exactly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so here we are. thanks to all who've stopped by to read this lil fic! hope that you enjoyed it. have a wonderful day! ;)

 

It is not an easy transition. Keith has a horrible time in class—so horrible, in fact, that he's on the cusp of academic probation—but hanging out with Lance is both a blessing and a curse in that regard.

Lance helps him study, but he's also super affectionate and Keith is fucking weak. Pidge and Hunk let almost all antics fly, within reason. Pidge insists that Lance text them if he's planning on having Keith stay the night, and Lance obeys so easily that it nearly disgusts his roommates.

Baseball practice is ultimately stellar. Now that Keith and Lance can just openly admit that they're flirting, everyone else can actually focus on improving for the next rec league match.

Lance pitches against Keith most evenings, his mind laser sharp and his ball placement nearly good enough to be on the proper team at Garrison Tech.

One night, near the end of the season, Allura calls a meeting. She talks about what everyone can do to stay in shape while they're on break, and _strongly_ hints that having sex is not exactly staying in shape for baseball, so Keith and Lance flush on cue.

So far, it's just been study sessions and lunch dates with their friends and holding hands and light kisses. Keith is starting to get a little frustrated that things are going to end poorly because of trouble moving to the next step _again_ , but then Lance sends him an innocuous little message the week before finals.

_**lance is a loser.jpg** _

_hunk n pidge are headed home on the 12th_   _but im going home later. you wanna laze on vaca w/ me?_

Keith freezes, panicked and excited in the same breath. He immediately lets everything he knows about coding fly out of his brain and fumbles with the screen to reply.

_**me** _

_Just on the _12th__ _?_

No matter how Lance responds, Keith is going to lose his mind.

_**lance is a loser.jpg** _

_well yeah, but i was thinking you could come to my house w/ me too, if you want._

Shit, does he _want_. Lance's home is filled with children and relatives, but his home is warm and pleasant and his mom is an excellent chef. He'd get to hear Lance's rollicking Spanish and look at his earnest expression as he plays with his siblings.

Of course, the prospect of sleeping with someone he's had raunchy thoughts about since he was seventeen is a bonus, but he's well aware that it's a bit strange to be more excited about doing domestic stuff with his date for weeks.

Keith's fingers tremble, but he manages to type back.

_**me** _

_I'd really like that._

Immediately after he hits send, he dials Shiro and tries his damnedest not to sound like he's freaking the fuck out.

"Hello?" Shiro answers in his usual lilt.

"I don't know what to wear on a _potentially getting laid_ date," Keith blurts out. Shiro laughs at him and Keith knows he's blushing.

His friend offers, sounding giddy, "Do you want to go to the mall or something?"

Keith groans. "I _hate_ people."

"So, that's a no?"

Keith makes him stay quiet when his phone buzzes and he sees that Lance has replied with an excited face and far too many exclamation marks. His heartbeat picks up. "Not…exactly."

"I'll be there to pick you up in an hour."

//

Pidge flicks both Hunk and Keith in the forehead. "Get your heads in the game, idiots. You can go daydream about your dates after you pass Coding II and Dynamics."

"Hey! My GPA is a three-point-six!" Hunk exclaims. Keith is a little embarrassed to admit what his is aloud.

"Yes, thanks to your astounding skills in labs and machine design. Your dynamics work could use some work." Pidge slams a hand down on Keith's textbook when they find Keith's eyes wandering to his phone. "Listen here, baseball wonder boy. Your boyfriend is taking a test. He can't answer any faster than he can fill out bubbles on a scantron. _Focus_."

"This is cruel and unusual punishment," Hunk whines, biting on the end of his mechanical pencil. "Why are you teaching us again?"

"Because Shay isn't taking any of your classes, Lance has a test right now, and Allura has given up hope for you two."

"Yikes," Keith winces, scribbling down more notes from the book and fiddling with his laptop to see if he can make the programs do anything the text is telling him to try. "Where's Shiro?"

"Working." Pidge grins evilly. "Which means it's just you and me, boys. Now, who wants to be drilled first?"

Neither of them volunteers.

//

The evening of the tenth brings the team regulars to a celebratory party over at Allura's house, which is more mansion than anything. Her Uncle, Coran, maintains the place when she's at school, and all of them wonder why they've never partied over here before.

Drinks are poured liberally, which means that Lance and Hunk, the two touchy-feely ones of their group, sidle up to their dates and start blubbering fairly early on in the evening. Matt, Shiro, and Pidge play video games together with Allura, Shay tells funny stories to Keith, and Hunk and Lance just keep on throwing back shots, too overjoyed with the end of the semester to do anything but get piss drunk.

The evening finds all of them sprawled out on Allura's multitude of couches, Lance thrown over Keith's lap, Hunk curled so that his toes are under Shay's thighs, Matt and Allura curled up on both sides of Shiro. Coran comes around with water and blankets at various points during the night, and smiles softly at the sight of Allura mingling with her friends, looking so much brighter than she has in months.

//

The twelfth rolls around far too quickly for Keith's tastes. Between the parties and the tests and his inability to stop freaking the fuck out about how Lance could react tonight, he feels exhausted.

He comes over to Lance's apartment and fully expects to see Hunk answer the door before he remembers that both he and Pidge have gone home already.

Knowing that Lance is alone in the apartment immediately makes him stiffen.

Lance stumbles to the door with a yawn and a big, sleepy smile. "Sorry, dude, just woke up from a nap. Come on in."

"It's six o'clock, Lance."

"Naps wait for no one," he replies, stretching his arms. Keith's eyes linger on the space his shirt rides up and exposes the line of his boxers. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure."

Lance puts something mindless on, throws his gangly limbs in Keith's lap and overall makes himself comfortable. Keith overheats quickly, holding Lance's hand when he can manage and mumbling through parts of the film he thinks are a little silly.

When it's about halfway through, Keith musters up his courage, and stammers out, "Are you gonna make a move or what?"

Lance grins and Keith scowls. "I wasn't sure you still wanted to do anything. You want me to make a move?"

" _Yes_."

At that, Lance shifts so that he can pick Keith up a bit and put him in his lap. "Listen, tell me to stop if you don't like anything I'm doing and I will, okay?"

"Okay," Keith murmurs, face on fire.

"Is it okay if I kiss your neck?"

"Hmm," Keith hums in the affirmative. Lance pushes the tufts of Keith's hair out of his nose and licks a trail from Keith's sharp jaw to the cusp of his shoulder. He asks for permission before he helps Keith shift so that they're sitting face to face on the couch, hips slotted together. Lance moves them so that his legs are splayed out the long way and Keith has room to put his feet up behind Lance's back.

Lance licks up Keith's bobbing Adam's apple and into his mouth, pulling Keith's bottom lip into his mouth and enticing a breathy moan from Keith's throat. The taller man bucks so that Keith can feel his growing hard-on even through his pants, and that makes Keith's eyes roll back.

"Still okay?" Lance breathes against the shell of Keith's ear, and Keith fists his auburn hair in his gloved hands.

" _Yes_." Keith pulls Lance's mouth back to his own, letting his weight fall on Lance's chest and grinding their pelvises together. Lance's groan rumbles through both of their throats and Keith pulls away, lips wet and sinfully red. "Let's take our pants off, please."

"Wait, let's move to bed. I've got stuff there." Keith flushes, but follows him hurriedly to his room. Once they get there, they shut the door for the principle of it and shuck their clothes off.

Keith feels frightfully embarrassed naked—he feels like he doesn't have enough hair in some places, and he's definitely heavier than his boyfriend is. But Lance just smiles balefully and whispers, "You're gorgeous," and Keith just feels his brain short-circuit. Lance pulls him on top of him on the bed and nips hickeys into Keith's neck, chest, and sides. Keith bucks into Lance at a heady pace, causing both of them to groan and pant, sliding against each other slick and eager.

"I need more, Lance," Keith urges his boyfriend, slipping his gloves off so that he can touch Lance's member and make him keen. "Please."

"Okay," Lance's voice breaks when he replies. He fumbles around the windowsill for a freshly opened bottle of lube and puts a generous amount on his long fingers. He gives Keith a few smooth tugs before Keith snarls and he laughs. "Is it okay if I put them in?"

" _Please_ ," Keith rushes him, rutting against Lance's thigh.

Lance coos as he pushes in a finger and Keith squirms, sweat mussing his mullet and flush coloring his pale skin pink. Lance kisses Keith's neck slowly and pants as Keith pulls him ever closer, still shifting his hips. "More," he whispers, voice all air and heat.

"Okay." Lance licks his lips and inserts another finger, feeling around for a good spot as he scissors the digits.

A few movements later, Keith squirms and Lance can feel his dick twitch in response. Keith's voice is guttural and raw and his expression is broken. "That's it. C'mon, again. I can take more, Lance."

"You sure?"

" _Yes_." Lance adds another finger, feeling around for the spot that makes Keith bite into Lance's collar with intense fervor. "I want you inside soon. I mean, if you want to be?"

"We got this far and you're asking if I want to fuck you?" Lance laughs at the incredulity of the question. "God, I love that. You're so cute."

"Shut up and actually _do_ something." Lance pulls away for a dreadful minute to pull on a condom and lubricate, groaning when Keith ruts against him again.

"Stop me if you're uncomfortable."

"I'm uncomfortable _not being fucked right now_ ," Keith snarls light-heartedly and Laugh snickers.

"Your wish is my command," Lance hums, lining himself up with Keith and pushing in agonizingly slowly. Keith tenses and Lance murmurs sweet nothings, petting his hair and urging him to relax. Once he finally does, Lance slips in deeper— _god, shit, it feels so good_ —and Lance tries his damnedest not to let his brain fly out of his dick.

Keith whines, kicking his heels into Lance's back as Lance adjusts, trying to find his prostate.

"Lance," Keith moans, barely present enough to do more than say his name. "Lance, you _need_ to move."

"Right, moving, doing that now." Lance fumbles through the motions, sliding in and out to a slow rhythm and trying his best to focus on Keith's pleasure. Keith tosses his head back after the third motion and Lance sticks his tongue out of his mouth, gaining confidence and panting breathlessly. "That feel good, Keith?"

"Shit, fuck yeah," Keith hoarsely responds, guiding Lance's right hand to his bobbing, leaking head. "Touch me?"

"Yeah, mm, _mm_." Lance dips down to kiss him on a down stroke and Keith howls. His come dribbles down Lance's dark hand and Lance is a hundred percent sure he's going to blow his load in five seconds at the sight of Keith sprawled out, chest heaving, coming all over him.

He moves and Keith moans again, grip tight on Lance's back and there it is. He barely pulls out in time, come dribbling down his shaft inside of the condom. The sensation is exceedingly gross, but Lance ruts against Keith until he's ridden the high out and both of them are tacky against each other on the small bed.

Lance laughs as soon as he catches his breath. "Wow."

"Wow is right," Keith breathes back, moving his hands so that one is on the small of Lance's back and the other is in Lance's curly auburn hair. He traces patterns in the length of it and lazily nuzzles up to kiss Lance's lips again, sated and slightly sore. "Just…wow."

"That was amazing." Keith grunts in agreement. Lance rolls slightly off of Keith and props himself up on one elbow to grin at his boyfriend. "Wanna go again?"

Keith flushes. "Really?"

Lance's eyes bug out. "Well, I mean, I was mostly kidding, but I'm down for whatever."

"Not right…this second," Keith mumbles, embarrassed, burying his face in Lance's chest. Lance slings an arm around his back, strongly resisting the urge to gush about how cute Keith is being right now. "I'll think about it later."

"We don't have to, Keith. Seriously."

Minutely, Keith murmurs, "It was really nice."

Lance beams. "Score for me." He gets punched, but then he expects that. It's long overdue.

In the end, it doesn't really matter. Keith is grinning like an idiot against his chest anyways.

//

When they arrive at Lance's home the following day, Lance's mother welcomes Keith with open arms. Lance's younger siblings only remember Keith a little bit, but the older woman remembers him as if she'd just seen him yesterday.

She fondly cradles him to her chest when Lance properly introduces him and Keith resists the urge to cry.

Lance might not look overly like his mother, but their mannerisms are just the same, and they smell exactly alike. She cooks him dinner, and Lance's siblings tug Keith in all directions. Lance smothers him with hugs and kisses and takes too many dumb selfies, but Keith humors him no matter what.

Now that he knows what they have is working, despite all of his panic, he can't bring himself to let Lance go.

//

When school comes back in session, Lance looks stupidly happy about his life. Pidge and Hunk groan at the sheer _gleam_ of his skin.

Shiro, the first day of practice back, claps Keith on the shoulder. "So, you two have fun over the break?"

Lance hollers as he pitches to Allura just before Shay chases him out of the fielding practice area. Keith looks over at their antics and snorts. "Guess you could say that."

"See?" Shiro says happily. "What did I say about starting over?"

"Yeah, yeah," Keith grumbles, taking a few practice swings with his bat, "Laugh it up."

Nothing is perfect, and Lance and Keith still have lots to talk about, but they have plenty of time to do that.

Pidge comes to the field the next time they have practice with the bracket for the year and all of them have pretty low expectations, but they huddle together and devise a plan anyways.

It's harder and harder to meet up and practice with classes picking up for senior year, with everyone falling into relationships, but they make it a point to get to the field when they can and drink together as often as possible.

After Shiro and Allura figure out the best plan of action and determine numbers as well as positions again this year, they put their hands together in the middle of the huddle and toss them up together in unison, huge grins on their faces.

They get ready to face another day with the rec league.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a hell of time writing this and i hope that you enjoyed it half as much as i did. 8)

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @[wbtrashking](http://www.wbtrashking.tumblr.com)


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